[h1]Katrina Meyer[/h1]

Smiling tightly to the blonde gentleman (every muscle in her was clenching, like they were bracing for impact- [i]they still haven’t messaged back. Why would they leave it so long?[/i]- which made it hard to smile properly), Kat kneeled down and tied her end of the cable to the motor, setting it on the floor. She kneeled down and kept her hand on the motor, steadying it, as they began to move. She breathed a sigh of relief- the wire unwound smoothly from the reel with little resistance, and the motor seemed to be heavy enough to pull out the wire with its own inertia without sliding.

Kat stayed quiet on the move down; she felt a little rude doing so, but the truth was her mind was whirling, trying to analyse the possible things that could have happened to her siblings from every angle, which ones were more likely and less likely, how she would be able to help them. And yet, as she did this she felt her head thudding against her ribcage, and the quiet voice in the back of her head got louder and louder. [i]Every heartbeat without a response means it's more likely they’re not saying anything because they’ve been hurt. Or worse.[/i]

Still, she looked around the trolley as they juddered down (Kat was reasonably confident the trolley would hold up, so the rickety setup was no cause for worry), and if anyone caught her eye she tried to offer a comforting smile in their direction.

[b]BAM![/b]

It took a couple of seconds for the Grit to register to Kat, so lost was she in her own thoughts. And, for a few seconds, looking around the trolley at the grotesque, inexplicable monsters was almost a relief. [i]There’s no way this can be happening. I must be dreaming.[/i]

She found herself looking in to the eyes of a bizarre fanged Grit with every viable surface ending in some kind of point- a claw, an antler, a spike, as it crawled towards her. The threat to her life this represented seemed vague and fuzzy, like she was watching a LiveIt™ move on her tech-specs. [i]Must be so awkward, being all spikes? You’d destroy the upholstery of any car. Also you'd be [u]so[/u] unpopular in a cramped club.[/i]

The creature stopped, paused to look at the wire linking her motor and the other side of the wall, and yanked. It’s strength was incredible- the motor flipped up and shot out the side of the trolley, punching a hole through one of the windows. Kat, more by instinct than any conscious decision, had moved her hands out the way as soon as the monster had reached down, but still had to duck out the way as the motor went flying past her head. Fortunately, she had anticipating something like this may have happened were the wire to run out, and so she had ensured no-one else was in harm’s way when setting the motor down.

Turning back, she looked back to beyond the wall, covered in Grit of so many different shapes, sizes, colours and forms it reminded her of a densely wired circuit board. It was almost entrancing, to watch them move about.

[i]Well, I guess no-one on the other side is going to be dragging this thing back anyway.[/i] She thought, absently.

Suddenly, a hard grip on her left arm bought her back to reality. Sounds, smells and the shaking of the trolley which had previously felt so far away suddenly came into sharp focus. Turning, she saw Vincent, looking her in the eyes cooly. [i]He’s dealing with this much better than me.[/i]

“C’mon.”

Before she even had a chance to nod in agreement, or protest, she was being dragged along as Vincent dashed towards an unopened door just off the landing. Reaching it, he attempted to open it- and it swung open immediately, revealing a pitch- black interior.

Her tech-specs had night vision, but she didn’t want to drain the battery any more than she was already doing whilst tracking the location of her siblings. Taking them off and putting them in a jacket pocket, she clasped her palms together, lifting her hands to her lips as if in prayer.

[i]Theo, Katrin, Jakob… I’ll get through this, and then I’ll come find you. Please wait for me. Please don't be dead.[/i]

Releasing her hands, the sigil of light on her right hand began to glow. It didn’t produce much light from a distance, but it was enough to dimly illuminate the features of the room in front of them. Holding it out in front of herself and Vincent, Kat quickly looked over her shoulder at the others as she ran inside.

“This way!”